For the statistical golf nerd in you, this might be something: over on the webste of the Deutscher Golf Verband e.V. you’ll find these statistical maps about the german golf topography. telling you everything from course densitiy per thousand inhabitants to average course utilization and the average golfers purchasing power:

Whilst browsing through the newest pictures at the flickr! golf group I bumped into this picture of hole 14 at the Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course in Idaho.

On first sight, ok it is an island green with a pretty spectacular backdrop. BUT, the whole goddamn island is artificial, remote controlled and changes in distance daily. I really am impressed!!!

Monday, 28. November
22.30 CNN: Living Golf

Wednesday, 30. November
19.50 Eurosport: Wednesday Selection
21.30 Eurosport: European Challenge Tour 2005

Saturday, 03. December
17.30 n-tv: Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Being mocked about his lack of drive length is one thing, taking it with humour and making the most dough is another!

Michelle Wie tees it up with the men once again. This time, she tries to make the cut in a mens event at the Casio World Open in Japan.

Tiger Woods is optimistic that she’ll make the cut, the experts over at espn.com have differents odds.

For me it’ll be just interesting to watch how Michelle recovered after the disqualification in her first pro event.

Update:

Michelle Wie fired a one-over-par 73 to trail leaders Toshimitsu Izawa and Yoshiaki Kimura by five strokes after the first round of Casio World Open.

Update 2:

Teenager Michelle Wie failed in her bid to match her male counterparts after missing the cut by one stroke at the Casio World Open in Japan.

Monday, 22. November
22.30 CNN: Living Golf

Wednesday, 23. November
19.50 Eurosport: Wednesday Selection
21.30 Eurosport: European Challenge Tour 2005

Saturday, 26. November
17.30 n-tv: Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Ever bothered as a european players not being able to convert yards to meters? Check the right column, at the bottom I added a yards-to-meters-converter.

DON’T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST…

It takes less than a minute. Work out the math as you read. Be sure you don’t read the bottom until you’ve worked it out.

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to PLAY GOLF. (more than once but less than 10).

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)…

3. Add 5. (for Sunday)…

4. Multiply it by 50.

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1755….

If you have not, add 1754…

6. Now subtract the four digit year of your birth….

You should have a three digit number….

The first digit is the number of times you want to PLAY GOLF each week..

The next two numbers are….

YOUR AGE! (OH YES IT IS)

This is the only year (2005) it will ever work, so spread it around while it lasts.

(via The Head Nut)

On a cold an grey november morning I played my first matchplay. My playing partner was Christoph and we chose as a venue the Prenden Golf Course. As the outside temperature was only 1° or 2° Celsius, three sweaters minimum was the dresscode of the day.

My playing handicap was 40, Christoph started with a 20, giving me a 20 shot advantage. So playing bogey when he played par was good for me ;-))).

The first nine holes we’re very digital scorewise: 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1. We never halved a hole, it was either win or lose. It was funny to see that our drives and fairway strokes mostly had the same length, our balls mostly could be found within meters from each other. On the par 5 15th we had the exact same drive length! But my sometimes errant driving and my mediocre short game made it interesting.

On the 10th hole I was able to move 2 up, as Christophs second shot found the bunker while I missed the green a little to the right side but safely in the semirough. Things started out bad for me on the par 5 11th where my tee shot made it just beyond the ladies tee box. Christoph made a solid tee shot, but lost his second shot on the left hand side rough after making a blind shot uphill over the bunkers. This brought me back in play and I won the hole with a score of eight to move 3up. Felt shitty though, you don’t want to win any points with crap play.

The best moment of the day - heck, of my whole golf year - came on the par 3 12th hole. I hit the 145 meters to the green with a seven iron and my ball landed just 5 cm in front of the cup, bounced off the flag post and rolled back over a meter into the semirough. Never was I any closer to a hole in one!!! I followed up with a birdie putt and went 4 up for the match.

The 13th hole I already lost off the tee, pushing my drive way off the right side into the rough. I didn’t even bother looking after it. This ended my longest series of not losing a single ball for 12 holes. Which is very good for me. So I moved back to 3up.

The 14th hole we halved - for the first time in the match. On the par 5 15th I had a slight advantage after the second shot. Christophs third shot didn’t make the green and I had a full sandwedge onto the green. Well, it took me one stroke with the sand wedge and two with the lob wedge to get the ball onto the green. Christoph sank his sixth shot for a bogey. So there I was with five shots on the green and a 1,5 meter downhill putt to win the game. And I missed the hole only by millimeters. Damnit!

But the decision came on the 16th, a 176m par 3. We halved the hole and I won the matchplay 3 up and 2 to go.

Thank you Christoph for a fun day and a nice game! I really got the hang of matchplay. Not only do you have to concentrate on your play but also on your opponent, playing strategically and react on what he plays and reacting to the opportunities you get. Can’t wait until the next round!

Being a member of the Golf Nut Society I get an E-Mail every day telling me about other golf aficionados and their spleen. Todays Golf Nut is a very good one:

Joe Malay (#0020)
Doesn’t have a job because he says that it would have a negative effect on his golf game. 5,000 Points